Hero Labs, the London based start-up with a mission to solve real-life problems with truly smart technology, has named Daniel Knight as its new chief technology officer.

Knight brings expertise from Samsung SmartThings and award-winning insurtech business Neos to his role. As CTO, he will oversee technical development at Hero Labs, focusing on its flagship product, Sonic, and working with the team to create new products in line with the company’s mission. Sonic is the UK’s first smart leak defence system to use ultrasonic technology to monitor water use and then spot anything unusual using AI algorithms. Fitted easily, in most cases under the sink as a replacement for your stopcock.

Before joining Hero Labs, Knight was technical product manager at Samsung SmartThings, the industry leader for consumer IoT technology. SmartThings’ open platform brings together devices, developers, and services to offer one of the largest ecosystems of integrated devices, connecting over 10 million products in over 1 million homes for limitless possibilities.

Earlier this month, Hero Labs secured £2.5m in funding led by Earthworm Group, an environmental fund manager, with further support from a £300,000 EU innovation grant and private investors. This funding will allow Hero Labs to accelerate development of Sonic and continue to build its team of smart technology experts.

Commenting on his appointment, Daniel Knight said, “Now more than ever people are looking for technology to help them in their everyday lives, from being more sustainable through to tackling problems like water leaks in the home. I’m so excited to be joining Hero Labs at this time – the entire team is passionate about finding ways tech can be used for good.

“Start-ups are always a wild ride, but the team is genuinely breaking new ground and I can’t wait to see where we can take this together.”

Krystian Zajac, founder and CEO of Hero Labs, says,“Daniel joins us at a pivotal time as we prepare to launch Sonic later this year. He’s a young tech star and has worked with some of the most prestigious companies in the space, so we’re thrilled to have him on the team and excited for the quality of ideas and innovation he’s going to bring to the table.”